1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration generating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vibration generating device, a component which converts electrical energy into mechanical vibrations using a generation principle of electromagnetic force, is mounted in a cellular phone, and the like, to be used for silently informing a user of call receipt.
Further, there is a growing demand for multi-functional electronic devices, as the market for electronic devices such as a cellular phones, and the like, is rapidly expanded. Since demand for small and high-quality components for electronic devices is increasing according to the expanded market therefor, demand for product development of a vibration generating device having a new structure capable of remarkably improving quality while improving disadvantages of existing products has increased.
As cellular phones having a large LCD screen have increasingly been released onto the market in recent years, a vibration generating device for generating vibrations at the time of a touch has been adopted, due to the use of a touch screen type.
First, a vibration generating device used in a touch screen type electronic device is more frequently used than providing vibrations at the time of a user receiving a call and therefore, needs to have a long lifespan. Second, a vibration generating device needs to have a rapid response speed meeting a user's speed of touching a touch screen.
An electronic device such as a cellular phone using a touch screen has used a linear vibrator to meet the demand for a long lifespan and rapid responsiveness.
A linear vibrator does not use rotation of a motor to generate vibrations, but is vibrated by electromagnetic force having a resonance frequency determined by an elastic member mounted in a vibrator and a weight body connected to the elastic member to generate vibrations.
As the size of the electronic device is reduced, the linear vibrator needs to be miniaturized. However, since the linear vibrator should include essential components, there may be limitations on the miniaturization of the linear vibrator. Therefore, a need exists for a linear vibrator having a novel structure capable of making a disposition relationship of components efficient.
In addition, the linear vibrator has excellent vibration responsiveness but needs to immediately stop vibrating when vibration factors disappear. However, the existing linear vibrator has a limitation in terms of stopping performance.